Learn How to Define and Explain Clinical Governance
Clinical governance is important because it helps ensure that healthcare organizations are accountable for improving the quality of patient care. Clinical governance is widely accepted as an essential aspect of healthcare provision that promotes quality, safety, and risk management.
Common Questions
- Can you describe what is clinical governance and its pillars?
- What experience do you have of clinical governance?
General Points for Creating Your Response:
Keep the following points in mind when crafting your responce for this question:
- The interviewers will see if you understand the concept of clinical governance or not. So you will need to define clinical governance and its pillars in your own words.
- Do NOT answer with a fancy definition!
- You should be ready to handle one or more follow-up questions, especially how you practice clinical governance in your clinical practice.
- You will have to craft your answer more than once, each time you will notice something redundant and un-necessary. Do not worry, keep perfecting your response.
Question #1: Describe what is clinical governance and what are it's pillars?
Always be careful when you are asked to define something. DO NOT use ready-made definations as these will be too common and will not make you stand out among other candidates. The interviewers are looking for your understanding of the concept, and not how well you have crammed the definition. If you are well versed in the definition; however fail to make an impression on the interviewer that you understand the basics of the concept, you will not score good in that question.
Defination
Clinical governance is a process which is desgined to maintain and improve the standards of patient care, and that the NHS remains accountable to the public.
Pillars of Clinical Governance
1. Clinical Effectiveness and Research
Adoping EBM approach in patient management, developing new protocols or guidelines, implementing NICE guidelines and conducting research
2. Audit
To ensure that practice is aligned with set standards
3. Risk Management
Having strong systems in place to understand, monitor and minimise risks to patients and staff, learning from mistakes, reporting adverse events, promote reporting
4. Education and Training
Attending courses, relevant exams, taking workplace assessments
5. Patient and Public Involvement
Local community feedback questionnaires
6. Information and IT
Keeping patient data up to date, accurate and confidential
7. Staffing and Staff Management
Appropriate recruitment and management of staff, encouraging staff retention, promoting good working conditions
Note:
If the question does not ask you to mention your experience with clinical governance, just define it and it's pillars.
Question #2: What experience do you have of clinical governance?
- This question asks you to explain how do you incorporate clinical governance in your clinical practice. So only asnwering with a definition and the name of its pillars will not be enough. You will have to relate with examples from your practice.
- You do not have to give examples for each of the pillars, however the first four should be mentioned with examples as these are more related to junior doctors.
Example Answer
"I understand that clinical governance is necessary to ensure quality of patient safety and quality.
During my internship, I implemented the use of guidelines to manage hospital acquired pneumonia among elderly patients in the geriatric ward. Additionally, I undertook an audit on the use of carbimazole in hyperthyroid patients. My role included collecting data, analyzing the results, and presenting recommendations.
Throughout my clinical practice, I have given importance to managing risk to myself and my patients. I have made it my default practice to always double check the medication dose and patient's name. To ensure my professional development, I have completed my latest resucitation skills training along with child safegaurding and teaching courses.
I actively engage with clinical governance through maintaining patient safety, ensuring clinical effectiveness, participating in audits, managing risks, and contributing to professional development. These experiences have strengthened my understanding of clinical governance and its importance in providing high-quality care."
Important:
Try to keep your answer between 2-3 minutes. You do not have to go into details about each examples, just briefly relate them to each pillar of clinical governance.